Oatmeal
by Reizbar-Ookami
Summary: ONESHOT: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In the ragtag Orphan family, they're that much more important-because you can't start the day without your own bowl of specially-prepared oatmeal.


Author's Note: I did a little different style for this story. I liked it in the beginning, but I'm not sure I like the whole story in this style. Unfortunately, by the time I realized that, it was too late to change. -_- Also, I've noticed that I like to make Kakashi the victim of my OC summon. In my defense… cats would not like Kakashi.

* * *

Oatmeal

Iruka makes three servings of oatmeal. The actions are simple enough. Three cups of water, boiling. One and a half cups of dry oatmeal into that water. Stirring the oatmeal and water, watching it thicken and bubble with steady 'glorp-glorp-glorp' noises. He adds a little extra oatmeal to make it thicker.

He separates the oatmeal into three mismatched plastic bowls; a red one, an orange one, and a dark blue one. He knows he has nicer bowls—ceramic ones, all the same color—but it's early in the morning, and so everyone needs something to start the day off right. He'd found that separate colors were helpful in getting everyone off to a good start.

He grabs the red bowl and adds some blueberries and strawberries. He stirs them around so the pale oatmeal is streaked with lines of purple and pink, like some abstract painting. It doesn't look very good to him, but he comforts himself with the thought that he's not eating it. He sprinkles a little powdered sugar on the top to make it look prettier (something he might not actually hate eating), then turns and places the bowl on one side of the square table.

He takes the orange bowl next, almost covering the top of it with a thick layer of brown sugar. He waits for the sugar to dissolve a little before stirring it around, making the oatmeal look darker. He adds a quick dollop of milk and stirs it again so the oatmeal isn't so thick. Once at a smoother consistency, he sprinkles cinnamon over the top, placing some apple slices along the edges of the oatmeal. He places the bowl across from the red one, so they're not sitting next to each other.

He takes the blue bowl and sprinkles some regular sugar across the top, then douses the oatmeal liberally with milk, making it slightly soupy and appearing decidedly unappetizing. He squeezes a quick shot of chocolate in it and stirs again. It looks even less appetizing, but he knows it tastes good, so he sets the bowl on the table as well.

He takes out a small, square green plate and places three anchovies on it, side by side. He grabs the pot he used to make the oatmeal and scrapes what he can off the sides, smoothing it over the anchovies. His nose wrinkles in disgust. He's glad he doesn't have to eat it. He's just unhappy he actually has to prepare it.

Setting the plate on the last side of the table, he sets out three spoons for the bowls, smiling a little as he hears the window slide open just as a key turns in the door while the air was displaced with a rush of smoke and a new body. He turns and finds his breakfast guests already taking their seats.

Anko looks grumpy like she always does in the morning. Her hair is falling out of the bun she keeps it in to sleep, and she's not wearing make-up. She's still wearing her pajamas, an over-large t-shirt and panties, but like most jounin, she could care less of what people think of her; her excuse was that if anyone wanted to make a deal of it, she'd just stab them in the eye with a kunai. Luckily, no one's heard of anyone being stabbed in the eye. She grunts a 'good morning' and a half-hearted 'thanks for the food' before she begins shoveling it in her mouth.

Naruto looks cheerful, which is only slightly unusual. He's usually too tired to smile more than a half-smile, but today he's wide awake. A glance at the hitai-ate reminds them that he's a graduate, and today he's learning who his teammates are. He's moving on from the academy. He chirps a happy 'good morning' and 'thanks for the food' and sits down, immediately using his apple slices to scoop up oatmeal and gobble it down.

Tomiko glances between the two humans before looking up at the ninja that he allowed to call him a summon, whiskers twitching. His brows furrow together, as if asking, 'you got to choose your family and _this_ is what you finally decided on?' Then, he sighs and dips his head with a vague 'good food morning thanks.' As a cat, that was the best he'd ever do; he was not polite by nature.

Iruka sits down as well, saying his good mornings as well, and begins to eat. "I'm sort of sad that I won't be able to walk to school with you anymore, Naruto!"

"Yeah, me too." Naruto looks up at him and frowns. "Iruka-sensei, I was thinking—"

"Such a rare thing for you," Tomiko mumbles, smirking.

Naruto glares at him, but is much too used to the feline's sarcasm to get as angry as he would at anyone else. "I was thinking that since I'm a genin now, I should start making my own breakfasts, dattebayo!"

Anko lifts her face away from her bowl to squint at him in confusion. "I'm a jounin and I don't make my own breakfasts."

"You burn hard-boiled eggs. You _need_ Iruka-sensei to cook your breakfasts," the blond argues, scowling at her. He looks back at Iruka. "But I can take care of myself now. I'm a genin."

Iruka frowns thoughtfully. "Are you sure? I don't mind making breakfast every morning."

"I want to make my own breakfast, though, Iruka-sensei." Naruto smiles. "Besides, I don't want my teammates to make fun of me for still eating with my academy sensei, 'ttebayo."

"And honorary older brother. If ya call me some old hag, I'm gonna punt you from the top of Hokage Monument," Anko growls.

The boy stares at her for a few minutes, blinking slowly. "…Anko, I—"

"Just leave her alone. She's crazier in the morning than any other time," Tomiko mumbles.

"…Yeah." Iruka glances at his summon before looking back at his soon-to-be former-student. "He's actually right this time. Don't try to carry on a conversation with her until after noon."

"…Sometimes I wonder about you guys," Naruto mumbles, frowning. "My teacher is supposed to be a jounin, and they're supposed to be crazy. …But I don't think he'll be as crazy as you guys are…"

Iruka smiles. "Don't worry. I'm only this crazy because I work with large groups of children all the time. …But Anko is a jounin. She's supposed to be crazy." He glances at his foster-sibling and frowns when he sees that she's passed out into her oatmeal. "Oh dear."

The blond munches on another apple slice as he watches the older man carefully lift Anko's head and slide her bowl out from under her. "So, what do you think? I'd still have dinner with you and Anko-nee-san on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday."

The academy teacher frowns. He knows he's being overprotective for wanting to say no, though. He wants to protect his student, but he's right; he's a genin and should learn to take care of himself. "…I suppose."

Naruto smiles brightly. "Great! Thanks so much, Iruka-sensei! I was worried you might say no, but I'm glad you agreed, dattebayo!"

Iruka nods and finishes eating, though he doesn't feel as happy as he normally does. When he and Naruto walk to the academy, he feels sad, and he wonders if this is what a parent feels when their children want more freedom. He decides that it sucks, but knowing he'd once been a child asking for more freedom as well, he decides that it will be a learning experience for both of them.

Tomiko watches them leave and frowns. He knows that Naruto will never sign a contract with him for a summon; he does not have the right temperament to fight alongside a cat, even one of his impressive size and tolerance for humans. That does not mean, however, that he does not care about the boy, and he believes that Naruto will grow to be a very impressive tom.

But he worries. Naruto is still young, and young people are still easy to be broken. Iruka still flinches when he sits down and gets up because of his injury from Mizuki. Mizuki had almost broken both of them. Tomiko hopes that the cheerful blond will have good teammates. Despite not understanding the human need to be near other people, he acknowledges it, and he can only pray that the child will be placed with other people that will make up for his weaknesses.

He watches the pair fade from sight. And he worries.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Iruka and Anko worry. Naruto never has much to say about training, other than that it is going well. He looks exhausted and drained when he comes to dinner on Wednesdays. His smiles are tight and worn out. He's losing weight despite gaining muscle. Iruka and Anko fret over him, making him feel uncomfortable. They force food into his hands at the end of the night, scolding him for not taking better care of himself now that he's out of the academy.

Tomiko worries, too. He does not like worrying. But Iruka is letting the blond grow up, so he does not ask him to please check on him while he trains. Anko says that Hatake is a good teacher, so she doesn't ask Iruka to ask him to check on Naruto while he trains.

Tomiko fails to see how someone with a record of laziness can be such a good teacher. He also fails to see how someone with as many ninken as he has can be good at anything, really. He does not like dogs, and he remembers that Iruka complains about Hatake being one of the worst report writers amongst the jounin.

Tomiko does not like worrying, so he does not wait for Iruka to ask him to check on Naruto.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Naruto doesn't quite know what to make of the presence he feels. He stops his movement, staying in place and almost causing Sasuke-bastard to slice his throat open. Luckily, the Uchiha snarls a curse and twists to the side, falling into an ungraceful heap instead of killing him. Sakura yells at him for making Sasuke do that. Kakashi scolds him for letting his guard down.

But Naruto has his guard up. He does not like the feeling of being watched from the shadows. He stands up straight, no longer in a battle stance, but still tense and ready to dodge. He glances along the tree line slowly, frowning. Finally, he spots a long, fluffy tail hanging down from one of the trees, and he marches over to it in annoyance.

He looks up at the large, familiar feline and scowls. "Oi! What are you doing here, fleabag-san!"

Tomiko dips his head to gaze at him boredly. "I'm watching you, you foolish twerp."

"Why you-!" Naruto sputters indignantly before grabbing a kunai and hurling it at him. "Stupid cat!"

"Good heavens! If you're that bad with kunai, you'll kill yourself; you won't have to worry about enemy nin." The cat knows that Naruto has only missed because he truly does not want to hurt him. He frowns. Now is not the time to quibble; he's on a self-assigned mission. "You're unhealthy."

"Well, at least it can tell the obvious."

Naruto flinches at Sasuke-bastard's statement, but then he quickly turns and yells a string of profanities that make Sakura blush, the bastard's eyes widen, and Pervert-sensei to close his book in surprise. Seeing that he's made them shut up for at least a moment, he turns back to the summon and frowns. "I'm healthy."

"You're not," Tomiko states simply. He makes it clear that he will tolerate no arguments.

Unfortunately, feline clarity was always lost on humans, especially blond ones. "I'm perfectly healthy!"

The cat narrows his eyes. "You're not," he repeats, then leaps down to the ground. He brushes up against the boy's leg, then turns to look up at him, glaring. "I don't like to be worried, twerp. It's bad for my digestion."

Naruto places his hands on his hips and manages a small smile. "I thought you had the stomach of a goat, 'ttebayo!"

"I do. So you can see why I don't like to be worried." Tomiko yowls as he is picked up by the scruff. "A pox upon you and your children, you cathandling monster!"

Kakashi raises his visible eyebrow, unimpressed. "You're interrupting my team's sparring practice."

"Put me down, drool-scented lazy-nin!" the cat hisses furiously, then lifts his paws and sinks his claws into the copy-nin's hand.

Naruto yelps in horror and grabs him around the middle, giving him a yank that rips his claws free of his sensei's hand. "Tomiko-san! I thought Iruka-sensei told you not to attack Konoha shinobi!"

Tomiko growls. "He smells like dog drool. Forgive me." He does not pause to lick his claws clean despite how much he wants to, instead turning to the boy after he is set down. "You will resume eating breakfast with Iruka and Anko. The stench of exhaustion on you is unbecoming."

"You can't tell me what to do, dattebayo!" the blond snarls angrily. He shrinks back as the feline's fur fluffs out and his back arches. "Ne, Tomiko-san?"

"I'll tell Iruka-kun that you cry yourself to sleep at night!" the summon hisses.

Naruto sputters, glares, and sputters some more until he can finally answer. "I don't cry myself to sleep at night, 'ttebayo!"

"_I_ know you don't. Iruka-kun doesn't," Tomiko states. "Please don't make me resort to that. Just eat with Iruka and Anko of your own accord." His tail droops slightly. "You've lost weight, and you're already a scrawny little kitten as it is. Don't make me worry. It's hard to keep my food down."

Naruto frowns. He hadn't realized that the cat was serious until now. "…I'll ask Iruka-sensei tonight." He scowls immediately, trying to make it seem as if he wasn't doing it because he'd been told to. "But only because eating ramen every morning is getting boring, fleabag-san! Not because you told me to or anything, dattebayo!"

"…Right," the feline mumbles after a minute. He turns to give the copy-nin one long, scathing glare, then hisses, drawing himself into the largest possible shape he can, reminding him, "A pox upon you and your children!"

Kakashi raises an eyebrow, then bites his thumb and makes the hand signs to call Bull. "Bull, can you get rid of this nuisance? It's interrupting our lesson."

Bull takes one look at the cat and startles. "…Boss, that's…" He sighs. "Alright, boss." He comforts himself with the thought that his master didn't specify how to get rid of him. "Wanna play cards?"

"Can I smoke?" Tomiko asks, brows rising inquisitively.

"I don't know. Akino somehow convinced Kuromaru to play with us, and you know how he is… smoke irritates his good eye or something…"

The cat sighs and rolls his eyes. "I suppose, then."

"Good." Bull scowls. "Just don't leave halfway through and come back with a couple of queens. No bitches, no queens."

"You dogs and your rules. It's just a fucking poker game." The two summons leave with poofs of smoke.

Kakashi frowns. "…That's not how I meant to get rid of him," he states to himself.

Naruto flinches a little when he sees the blood dripping from his sensei's hand. "Sorry about ripping your skin open, Kakashi-sensei. I know how much it hurts. He didn't get any venom in there, did he?"

The copy-nin turns toward him sharply. "You mean that mangy animal had poison on its claws?"

The blond looks away and scratches his cheek. "…Well, it's more like—"

"Damn." Kakashi looks down at his hand, wondering if he really wanted to take the chance that the wounds—however small—might be poisoned, then sighs. "Alright. You're dismissed for the rest of the day."

As he disappears from sight, Sakura frowns and makes her way over to the blond. "Does that cat really use poison on its claws?"

"No," Naruto replies, placing his hands behind his head. He's frowning, though; he didn't mean it as a joke. "He just likes to dip his claws in wasabi."

Sasuke stares at him for a moment, unable to comprehend. "…Wasabi?"

"It irritates the wounds. He thinks it's funny. …I've always thought he was sort of crazy, though…" He rubs his chin thoughtfully, then shrugs, smiling. "At least he'll never be my summon, dattebayo!"

Their female teammate looks appalled by this. "Naruto, that would be one of the greatest honors! Cats rarely ever sign contracts—it's said that the chance of getting a contract with a cat is so little that only one family has ever been able to keep an ongoing contract!"

Naruto frowns. "But Sakura-chan, fleabag-san doesn't know when to shut up."

"And yet you still call him '-san' even when you're insulting him," she argued, scowling at him.

"…I only call him that because I know it annoys him," the blond explains, looking baffled.

Sakura roars and punches him in the head. "NARUTO! SHOW SOME RESPECT!"

"ITAI!"

Sasuke turns as he hears someone appearing nearby, raising an eyebrow as he sees the large feline has returned. "Problem, Neko-san?"

Tomiko narrows his eyes at the boy, then looks at Naruto. He glances between them before finally nodding to himself. "Uchiha-brat. Join the twerp when he goes to eat with Iruka."

"I see no reason why I should," the Uchiha replies, glaring at him.

The cat lifts his head regally. "Don't underestimate my standing in the village. I can tell the Hokage that I believe it will be conducive to your emotional development, and he'll take it under advisement."

Sasuke glares harder. "And why would you do that?"

"Because I'm a cat. I like to live up to the perception that all cats are assholes."

Sasuke's eyebrow twitches as the feline disappears in another burst of smoke. Suddenly, he understands why Naruto likes to annoy Tomiko.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Iruka makes four servings of oatmeal. The actions are simple enough. Four cups of water, boiling. Two cups of dry oatmeal into that water. Stirring the oatmeal and water, watching it thicken and bubble with steady 'glorp-glorp-glorp' noises. He adds a little extra oatmeal to make it thicker.

He separates the oatmeal into four mismatched plastic bowls; a red one, an orange one, an indigo one, and a dark blue one. He knows he has nicer bowls—ceramic ones, all the same color—but it's early in the morning, and so everyone needs something to start the day off right. He'd found that separate colors were helpful in getting everyone off to a good start.

He grabs the red bowl and adds some blueberries and strawberries. He stirs them around so the pale oatmeal is streaked with lines of purple and pink, like some abstract painting. It doesn't look very good to him, but he comforts himself with the thought that he's not eating it. He sprinkles a little powdered sugar on the top to make it look prettier (something he might not actually hate eating), then turns and places the bowl on one side of the square table.

He takes the orange bowl next, almost covering the top of it with a thick layer of brown sugar. He waits for the sugar to dissolve a little before stirring it around, making the oatmeal look darker. He adds a quick dollop of milk and stirs it again so the oatmeal isn't so thick. Once at a smoother consistency, he sprinkles cinnamon over the top, placing some apple slices along the edges of the oatmeal. He places the bowl across from the red one, so they're not sitting next to each other.

He isn't sure what to put in the indigo bowl. He hems and haws for a few moments, absolutely baffled. Eventually, though, he decides on cinnamon and milk. He doesn't make it runny, and he's light on the cinnamon. He doesn't stir it like he stirs the other bowls, instead just letting it settle. As a second thought, he adds a few apple slices to that one, too. He hoped it wasn't too much. He sets that bowl on the side closest to the door.

He takes the blue bowl and sprinkles some regular sugar across the top, then douses the oatmeal liberally with milk, making it slightly soupy and appear decidedly unappetizing. He squeezes a quick shot of chocolate in it and stirs again. It looks even less appetizing, but he knows it tastes good, so he sets the bowl on the table as well.

He takes out a small, square green plate and places three anchovies on it, side by side. He grabs the pot he used to make the oatmeal and scrapes what he can off the sides, smoothing it over the anchovies. His nose wrinkles in disgust. He's glad he doesn't have to eat it. He's just unhappy he actually has to prepare it. He leaves the plate on the counter.

He sets out four spoons for the bowls, smiling a little as he hears the window slide open just as a key turns in the door while the air was displaced with a rush of smoke and a new body. He turns and finds his breakfast guests already taking their seats.

Anko looks grumpy like she always does in the morning. Her hair is falling out of the bun she keeps it in to sleep, and she's not wearing make-up. She's still wearing her pajamas, but like most jounin, she could care less of what people think of her; her excuse was that if anyone wanted to make a deal of it, she'd just stab them in the eye with a kunai. Luckily, no one's heard of anyone being stabbed in the eye. She grunts a 'good morning' and a half-hearted 'thanks for the food' before she begins shoveling it in her mouth.

Naruto looks cheerful, which is only slightly unusual. He's usually too tired to smile more than a half-smile, but today he's wide awake. A glance at the boy walking in behind him reminds him that he has a reason to be happy; while his rival and friend could be aggravating, it was nice to hang out with someone outside of training and missions. He chirps a happy 'good morning' and 'thanks for the food' and sits down, immediately using his apple slices to scoop up oatmeal and gobble it down.

Tomiko glances between the three humans before looking up at the ninja that he allowed to call him a summon, whiskers twitching. His brows furrow together, as if asking, 'you got to choose your family and _this_ is what you finally decided on?' Then, he sighs and dips his head with a vague 'good food morning thanks.' As a cat, that was the best he'd ever do; he was not polite by nature.

Sasuke stares at his bowl of oatmeal for a few seconds, then looks up at Iruka slowly. He opens his mouth, closes it, then looks back down at the oatmeal. Finally, though, he mutters a quiet 'thank you for the food' and begins to eat.

Iruka frowns. "I wasn't quite sure how to prepare yours. I hope it's okay. I remembered that you never liked all of the sweets the girls would try to give you."

The Uchiha looks up at him. He's surprised his teacher had noticed; Iruka had had so many other students that he scolded so much, he'd felt kind of invisible among them. He looks back down at his oatmeal. He'd never really liked oatmeal, but somehow, it doesn't taste too bland from just milk or too sickeningly sweet from brown sugar, like he'd always had it. This oatmeal is actually rather… satisfying.

Sasuke manages a quirk of his lips that could qualify as a little smile. "It's fine like this. Thanks for the food."

Iruka returns the smile and begins to eat. "You're welcome. You can come by for breakfast any time!"

He glances at Anko questioningly. "…Does she always dress like that?"

The academy teacher glances at Anko and raises an eyebrow when he finds she's wearing a pair of pants that aren't hers and a bra. "…You're really not child-friendly, Anko."

"Shut up. At least I got laid," she mumbles. "'s more than I can say for _you._"

Iruka huffs and glares at her for a moment, then turns back to the boy and smiles. "Just ignore her. She's really not good for anything until noon."

"'m good for _something_. 'm good for—"

The brunet reaches over and shoves her face into her oatmeal before she can finish. He looks at Sasuke and frowns. "I swear I'm only this physically mean to her. I don't abuse anyone else."

Sasuke stares.

Naruto smiles at him brightly. "Don't worry, Sasuke-bastard! You get used to their violence, 'ttebayo!"

Sasuke decides to just eat and think about it later. He's not sure whether he wants to come back for breakfast again.

But when he glances at Tomiko, eating on the counter, and finds the cat leering at him, he realizes he may not have a choice in the matter.


End file.
